T HE A GE OF A NXIETY Chapter 28

M ODERN T HOUGHT A FTER WWI Doubt in human ability to progress after seeing the deaths of millions for little to no progress in land leads to gross disillusionment Philosophical underpinnings: Friedrich Nietzsche Most famous quote: “God is dead” Words and meanings: relevance comes from their history, those with firm control over words control society and culture Superman (Übermensch): breaks out of societal conventions and formulates new moral codes for himself For Nietzsche, life is meaningless Books: Thus Spake Zarathustra The Will to Power Life comes from random chance happenings No purpose for life No inherent meaning Rules are the constructs of those in power (traditional values might have been different with another culture) Traditional values have no ultimate meaning There is no ultimate meaning and life has no purpose The end of life is the end Accept the meaninglessness of life and move on

M ODERN T HOUGHT A FTER WWI (A) Paul Valéry: saw postwar mankind as suffering from a “cruelly injured mind”, plagued by anxiety because of the loss of the progressivist vision of the 19th century (B) Henri Bergson: experience and intuition as important as rationalism and scientific thinking (C) Ludwig Wittgenstein: espoused logical positivism; denigrated the search for transcendent truth A B C

M ODERN T HOUGHT A FTER WWI Resurgent religion: Christianity Stems from work of Søren Kierkegaard (A) Karl Barth: father of neo- orthodoxy (B) Converts and attractants T. S. Eliot (C) W. H. Auden (D) Evelyn Waugh (E) C. S. Lewis (F) Graham Greene (G) Max Planck (H) ABC D EF GH

N EW M EDIA Radio Known as the “wireless” Cinema: Silent films “Talkies” Useful as propaganda Leni Riefenstahl: Triumph of the Will ( Triumph des Willens)

T HE I NTERWAR P OLITICAL S ITUATION Political instability: Search for governmental forms that will not lead to war and will control the chaos of the post-war world Reparations: end of Germany’s prosperity Rampant, soaring inflation (4 trillion marks to 1 US Dollar) by November 1923 Dawes Plan put in place to curb runaway inflation in European nations

G ROWTH OF D EMOCRACIES Kellogg-Briand Pact: 15 countries renounced war “as an instrument of national policy”, early attempt at a peace movement (idealistic, doesn’t work) Demonstrates the aggressive political optimism of the 1920’s Disillusionment mostly found in the artistic/literary circles; politics is philosophically a different place Various parties competed for seats in Parliaments and for influences among various constituencies (Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats – all wanted workers votes) Fragmentation of political spectrum grew as economic situations worsened

A RTISTIC AND P HILOSOPHICAL DISILLUSIONMENT Despair over the ability of mankind to solve his own problems by recourse to reason Reference the section entitled: Art giving special attention to all artists from Picasso to Kandinsky

E NTER THE G REAT D EPRESSION Stock Market crash in the US (October 1929) Wiped out the financial holdings of millions Banks went under because of bad debts US banks call in their loans; bad for Europeans who owe millions of dollars to the US; New Deal puts Roosevelt into office Germany’s solution: print billions of marks; leads to runaway inflation France: depression hits later but is more persistent Britain: less effected and also more socialist oriented; Liberal party surpassed by Labour Party Countries go off the gold standard Massive unemployment worldwide; in Europe socialism takes strong root in Scandinavian countries (welfare, pensions, healthcare)

P OLITICAL MOVEMENTS Authoritarianism: Human traditions of gravitating toward strong leaders in times of crisis Authoritarian regimes: trying to maintain peace and order; minimal restriction on freedoms (if you go along; passive acceptance) Totalitarianism: Seeks to control the totality of people’s lives Religion, leisure activities, culture (art, music, books), media, politics Afraid of and discouraged deviation